Waterfowl decoy

ABSTRACT

A hollow body waterfowl decoy comprised of separable head and body portions. The head portion has a neck which is of substantial length and may be vertically adjusted through an opening to receive it in the body portion by means of an interference fit. The body portion is a flexible resilient shell molded of a material which, although collapsible, will return to its working position when the pressure which collapses it is released. The body portion also has a fin formed integrally therewith and to this integral fin there may be attached a keel which is provided with means to retain the cord of an anchor for different effective tethering scopes.

United States Patent 1 Gagnon June 10, 1975 WATERFOWL DECOY [57]ABSTRACT lnvemofl g 302 Reservoir A hollow body waterfowl decoycomprised of separa- Aver, Lincoln, R1. 02365 ble head and bodyportions. The head portion has a [22] Filed: Apt 12, 1974 neck which isof substantial length and may be verti- Appl. No.: 460,295

Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerPeter K. SkiffAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Barlow & Barlow cally adjusted through anopening to receive it in the body portion by means of an interferencefit. The body portion is a flexible resilient shell molded of a materialwhich, although collapsible, will return to its working position whenthe pressure which collapses it is released The body portion also has afin formed integrally therewith and to this integral fin there may beattached a keel which is provided with means to retain the cord of ananchor for different effective tethering scopes.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures K "0:, s s' 7 k\\\\ n 2/ v- "00 O 29 W O l6a A 57 .53 i

9 38 6/ fir 59 49 ac 65 WATERFOWL DECOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONDecoys to lure gamebirds have long been used and they have primarilybeen made as a solid buoyant body quite often with removable heads topermit ease of storage. In hunting, it is important to lay the ducks inthe water in a number of positions and to orient the heads in differentpositions so that a degree of natural environment is presented. It isalso advantageous to be able to collapse the decoy into a slightlysmaller package for ease in transport. Further it is important tomaintain the anchor line in unsnagged condition. For example, it hasbeen common to fasten the anchor line around the body of the decoy butwhen the decoys are taken to the location in a sack, the anchor line mayreadily become entangled with the anchor line of an adjacent decoy. Nouniform solution to the aforementioned problems have been presented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The decoy is comprised of two basic members, ahead portion and a body portion. Both are hollow and made of flexibleresilient material to produce a decoy which is light in weight. The bodyportion particularly is compressible and when not being used may be reduced in size to facilitate storage. The materials used in the formationof the body and the head are such that when pressure for collapsing thebody or the head are released they will resume or come back to theiroriginal working positions, thus eliminating the necessity of inflationby means of air pressure. Also the neck portion of the head iscompletely smooth and cylindrical and has an interference fit in acircular opening in the body so that the head may be adjusted axially ofthe neck in any one of an infinite number of positions as well asrotationally through 360. A fin is formed on the body and to this finthere is a detachable thin keel secured which carries recesses adaptedto receive the anchoring cord in a number of different relations foradjustment of the length of the cord as to the depth of the water inwhich the decoy is floating and to also use up the cord when the decoyis not in use with the anchor tied off for future use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the waterfowldecoy with parts broken away to show the construction thereof;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the decoy with a weight attached to the keel;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the keel alone;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the closure plug;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of means for attaching the detachable keelto the fin integral with the body and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of theweight which is used on the detachable keel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings10 designates the body portion of the decoy which is generally hollow asat 11 with a resilient shell 12 forming the outer molded structure andwith an integral fin 13 extending downwardly from the bottom 14 of thebody. There is an opening 15 in the tail end of the body shell which isclosed by means of a plug 16 having an insert 17 to closely fill thehole and act as a stopper and a handle 18 by which the plug may bewithdrawn from the hole as desired. An opening 20 is provided in theupper wall of the shell adjacent its forward end. In the molding of thisopening there is provided a slight flange 21 extending inwardly from theopening. In molding both the opening 15 and the opening 20 cannot beformed with a perfectly smooth surface, so these openings are reamedwith a cutting tool so as to provide a smooth circular opening in theselocations.

The head portion 25 of the decoy is formed separate from the bodyportion and is provided with a bill 26 and eye 27 and a neck 28. It isof a hollow shell-like construction having a resilient wall forming theshape of the head and neck and the neck 28 is of a cylindricalconstruction or shape smooth throughout its axially extent on its outersurface and of a size slightly greater than the diameter of the hole 20so that it will have an interference fit with this hole. The fit is suchthat the neck may be adjusted vertically or axially of the extent of theneck and also circularly through 360. The end of this cylindrical neck28 is provided with a web portion 29 having an opening 30 therein topermit easy collapsing thereof, or re-entrant of air after thecollapsing pressure has been released, so that it will return to itsnormal working position as seen in the drawing. While the head may beremoved from its opening 20 for collapsing of the body if it is desiredto leave the head in position. then the plug 16 may be removed so thatthe body may be collapsed with the head in position.

A detachable keel 35 (see FIG. 3) is provided with a recess 36 along itsupper edge to receive the fin 13 which is an integral part of the body.Openings 37 are provided through the portion of the keel which forms onewall of the recess 36 for the reception of securing studs 38 which areformed as shown in FIG. 5 with a slotted head 39, a shank 40 and a crosspiece 41 so that these pins may pass through the openings 42 in the finl3 and out-of-round openings 37 inkeel 35 and be turned a portion ofarevolution to lock the keel in position. A recess 45 is provided in thelower edge of the keel to locate a weight 46 which is of a bifurcatednature having a slot 47 to receive the portion 48 of the keel adjacentthis recess, while a rivet 49 may pass through the opening 50 in thekeel to secure the weight in position.

The detachable keel 35 is provided with a plurality of notches for theaccommodation of an anchoring cord in position. One of these holes 55passing through the keel may accommodate a cord 56 which has a knot atits end to secure it therein and then this cord is wound in the space 57and 58 between the detachable keel and the integral fin a number ofrevolutions to take up the portion of the cord after which the cord isthen brought down as at 59 to enter one of the notches 60 and be wrappedabout the portion of the keel and then through slot 6 so that its endportion 62 is thus locked in position. To this end portion 62 the anchoris attached.

Other openings, such as 63 which is a companion of the opening 60 withan enlarged area 64 is provided into which the anchoring cord may bewedged under certain other circumstances as desired. Likewise, there isa further slot 65 with an enlarged opening 67 to accommodate the cordunder certain other circumstances. By this means if the cord is ofsubstantial extent and of a length greater than is necessary to anchorthe decoy in shallow water, it may be partly wrapped about the decoy asshown at 70 and then brought into a locking position either through theslot 60 or through the slot 63 and thence through either the slots 62 or65 and then the anchor may be let go in the shallow water with the scopeof tether shorter to keep the decoy under greater control. The provisionof slots at either end of the keel permits the decoy to be anchored witheither the head or tail to the wind or current. The wrapping of the cordin this manner is used as suggested for shortening the cord for itseffective length in anchoring. Also it serves as a means for neatlycoiling the cord when the decoy is not in use with the anchor in suchshort position from the decoy that the cord does not get tangled withother decoys when several are placed in a bag for transportation.

By the above arrangement the decoy is much simplified from that shown inthe prior art. Also there is no inflation necessary as the constructionof the body is such that it will return to its working position whencollapsing pressure is released although the decoy still may becollapsed for transportation. Likewise the weighting of the detachablekeel is simpler and the detachable keel itself is simpler and yetprovides a means for shortening the effective length of the anchortether when shallow water is encountered.

I claim:

1. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a hollow body portion having an outershell of resilient material with an opening in said shell,

b. said body portion being provided with a fin integral therewith,

c a detachable keel having means to detachably secure said keel to saidfin, said detachable keel having wedge-shape slots extending inwardlyfrom the outer periphery thereof to wedge an anchoring cord therein,said slots being oppositely oriented to present a web portion aboutwhich the anchoring cord may be wound,

d. a head portion having a neck extending downwardly therefrom. saidieck being substantially cylindrical and of a size to have aninterference fit throughout its length with said opening and with itsouter surface smooth and parallel with its center dAlS whereby said neckmay be axially adjusted through said opening to a number of positions,

c. said l. illuw body portion being molded from a collapsiblc resilientmaterial which permits the body to be coilapsed and to return to itsworking position after the collapsing influence is removed.

2. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said opening in said shell iscircular and said neck is cylindrical to also enable said head portionto be rotated rel 5 ative to said body portion.

3. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said head portion is hollowand is a resilient shell.

4. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a body portion having a bottom,

b. a keel secured to said bottom,

c. said keel having a plurality of wedge-shape slots extending inwardlyfrom its outer peripheral edge, said slots wedging an anchoring cordtherein whereby the decoy may be anchored from a plurality of locationsalong said keel to direct said decoy in different directions withreference to the wind direction.

5. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 4 wherein d. said body portion isprovided with a fin integral therewith,

e. a detachable keel means to detachably secure said keel to said fin,said detachable keel having slots extending inwardly from the outerperiphery thereof and of a shape to wedge an anchoring cord therein.

6. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 5 wherein said detachable keel has arecess to receive said integral fin. l =l

1. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a hollow body portion having an outershell of resilient material with an opening in said shell, b. said bodyportion being provided with a fin integral therewith, c. a detachablekeel having means to detachably secure said keel to said fin, saiddetachable keel having wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from theouter periphery thereof to wedge an anchoring cord therein, said slotsbeing oppositely oriented to present a web portion about which theanchoring cord may be wound, d. a head portion having a neck extendingdownwardly therefrom, said neck being substantially cylindrical and of asize to have an interference fit throughout its length with said openingand with its outer surface smooth and parallel with its center axiswhereby said neck may be axially adjusted through said opening to anumber of positions, e. said hollow body portion being molded from acollapsible resilient material which permits the body to be collapsedand to return to its working position after the collapsing influence isremoved.
 2. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said opening in saidshell is circular and said neck is cylindrical to also enable said headportion to be rotated relative to said body portion.
 3. A waterfowldecoy as in claim 1 wherein said head portion is hollow and is aresilient shell.
 4. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a body portionhaving a bottom, b. a keel secured to said bottom, c. said keel having aplurality of wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from its outerperipheral edge, said slots wedging an anchoring cord therein wherebythe decoy may be anchored from a plurality of locations along said keelto direct said decoy in different directions with reference to the winddirection.
 5. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 4 wherein d. said bodyportion is provided with a fin integral therewith, e. a detachable keelmeans to detachably secure said keel to said fin, said detachable keelhaving slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery thereof and ofa shape to wedge an anchoring cord therein.
 6. A waterfowl decoy as inclaim 5 wherein said detachable keel has a recess to receive saidintegral fin.